Satisfied?

I am. I didn’t find the finale OVERwhelming, but it was far from UNDERwhelming like last year’s cliffhanger. I thought it was nearly perfect. There was so much going on it’s still sinking in for me, but I’ll try to get through everything as quickly as possible and then on to the big talking points. Spoilers ahead!

Flashbacks

I know this review is pretty text-heavy, so I’m going to get some pictures in here soon. In the meantime, enjoy the Wes’s extremely exhaustive review. — Chris

Desmond’s story was awesome. Not only was his character interesting, but his flashbacks intersected with a lot of other characters and it revealed a lot of answers in the process. We learn that D was a soldier in the Queen’s army and that he was imprisoned for not following orders. After he was dishonorably discharged, the mysterious Charles Widmore, Industrialist and Philanthropist, met him with two boxes. In the first box was every letter that Desmond had sent Penelope Widmore, Charles’ daughter, while D was in prison. If Desmond agreed to cut off all contact from Penny, Charles would give him the second box, filled with money. Desmond took the money.

Later at a café in America, D ran into Libby who helped him pay for his order. They sit and talk and D tells Libby he’s planning on entering a sailboat race around the world, sponsored by Charles Widmore. He plans to beat Widmore and win back his love, Penny. He needs $42,000 (do I need to even write, note the number’ anymore?) to buy a boat. Libby tells him that her husband, David, just died a month ago and has a sailboat named after Libby — the Elizabeth, from Newport Beach (between Los Angeles and San Diego). She tells him that David would want Desmond to have it.

To train for the race, Desmond runs stadium stairs at the same stadium as Jack. The night of their encounter, Desmond receives a surprise visit from Penny. He asks how she found him, and she gives him a potentially revealing response: With enough money and determination, you can find anyone.” Indeed. She goes on to say that she hasn’t set a wedding date with her new beau, probably because she’s still waiting around for Desmond. He tells her he’ll be with her after he gets back from the race because he has to get his honor back.” If that’s what it takes, I say, go crazy.

Once in his sailboat, predictably, Desmond is caught in a crazy storm and washes up on the island where he is recovered by his future hatchmate, Kelvin Inman (who is formerly Joe Inman, the U.S. soldier who taught Sayid how to be a torturer). Kelvin is dressed in a yellow biohazard suit with an oxygen tank to supposedly protect himself from an infectious disease.

Upon waking up in the hatch, Desmond is introduced to his new workplace. The countdown, the button that saves the world, the dangerous outdoors. Kelvin tells him that his boat was wrecked, and Desmond spends the next two years never venturing outside the hatch.

Many questions are answered by Kelvin. Kelvin’s old hatchmate, Radzinsky, originally started the blacklight map that Locke saw in the episode Lockdown.” Between K and R they figured a way to hotwire the blast doors and make them come down so R could work on the map from memory. Eventually, Radzinsky blew his head off with a shotgun, so Kelvin continued working on map and pushing the button. Kelvin also showed Desmond the key that will blow everything up if necessary — at least that’s what I took from this scene. My impression was that the hatch could essentially be ended if the key was turned. I’m not positive on this one, so get back to me.

As time goes on, Desmond gets antsy about being down in the hatch. He wants to go outside in the biohazard suit to conduct tests or whatever it is Kelvin is doing out there. His request is denied, but one day he decides to follow Kelvin anyway to see where he goes. Turns out, Kelvin doesn’t need that suit as there is no infectious disease, and he’s secretly been rebuilding Desmond’s boat to get off the island. Furious, Desmond confronts Kelvin on it, accidentally killing him as they struggle on some rocks. Desmond has to run back to the hatch to input the code, but he shows up late and the place is rumbling like an earthquake. He manages to get the countdown working again, but little does he know that now, he has brought down Oceanic Flight 815 out of the sky.

Another month passes and Desmond is starting to lose it being in solitary confinement. He pulls out Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend” the last book he wants to read before he dies. In it, he finds a letter, long ago hidden by his love Penelope Widmore. She tells him that if he is reading the letter, he must be in a very desperate place but not to give up because she still loves him. (Nerd Alert! - In The Odyssey” Penelope is Odysseus’ wife and for years she remains loyal to Odysseus not knowing if he is alive or dead. Even at the urging of her father she refuses to marry and rejects over 100 suitors!) Desmond reads the letter and puts off suicide for another day. It happens to be the day that Boone dies and Locke bangs on the top of the hatch wondering how to get inside. Desmond tells this to Locke as the hatch goes apeshit at the end of last night’s episode, and tells him that he saved his life, so Desmond is going to return the favor.

At this point, Desmond inserts the key and a blinding white light can be seen all over the island. It’s unclear what exactly happens and this will be possibly the biggest mystery going into next season. Was it a suicide mission to save the island and/or the world? Did Eko and Locke survive? How did Charlie get out of there? And why was he acting kind of strange when he got back to the beach? What of the countdown now? Is that hatch simply destroyed? Is the electromagnetic energy going to reveal the island’s location?

Island Action

Everyone was right on with the Desmond is in the boat” prediction. The episode began with Jack, Sawyer, and Sayid bringing a very drunk Desmond to the beach after he failed to sail away from the island. D told them he left 2 1/2 weeks ago — after he ran like a bat out of hell from the hatch — and headed west towards Fiji, only to end up back at the island. He spends the better part of the day saying things like, There’s no escape,” this is it” and ignorance is bliss.” He also tells Claire that the medicine Charlie gave her doesn’t do anything. Clearly, he’s out of positive things to say.

With newfound access to a boat, Sayid and Jack hatch their plan. Sayid will sail to the other side of the island to scout the Others’ camp, then create a signal fire for Jack and the rescue party so they can meet up and take down the Others. Sounds good on paper, right? Sayid enlists Sun and Jin to come along because they apparently have sailing experience. Jin was a fisherman, so, I buy it. Those three set off on the boat while Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, and Michael head into the jungle.

Meanwhile, Locke confronts Eko on the button-pushing and tells him that it needs to be stopped so they’re no longer slaves in the hatch. Eko doesn’t take kindly to Locke so he kicks him out and locks the door. Locke returns with Desmond and they distract Eko long enough for D to hot-wire the blast doors and make them go down, locking Eko out. Unhappy, Eko runs into Charlie who helps him find leftover dynamite from last year’s finale with the intent of blowing the blast doors open. Isn’t that why they’re called blast doors”? Because they can withstand…blasts? Someone get back to me on that. Anyhow, as Eko is setting it up, Charlie yells at Locke to open the door so they don’t have to use the dynamite and Desmond says, Twould take an atom bomb, brotha.” That’s too bad for Eko and Charlie because when they set off the dynamite, both of them get knocked on their asses for not getting far enough away in time. And of course, the dynamite does nothing. As Casey Kasem would say, And the countdown rolls on…”

Out in the water, Sayid, Sun, and Jin pass a very strange ruin as they sail around the island. It is a four-toed foot wearing a sandal that looks to be standing on a platform, which is situated on a rock formation jutting out into the water. The leg only rises up to where the shin might be. When I saw it (Nerd Alert!) I remembered my Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Here’s a link to the Wikipedia article of the Colossus of Rhodes.

The sailors end up at the Others’ camp where Michael was being held. Sayid goes on a reconnaissance mission and discovers the camp has been abandoned. Not only that, but the hatch that was being guarded when Michael was there was nothing! Sayid opened the doors to find a dirt wall — very Looney Toons of them.

Back in the jungle, Kate realizes they’re being followed by two people across a river, so she and Sawyer start firing into the brush. Jack joins the fray and Sawyer mows down an Other while the other Other escapes. Then comes, what I thought, was probably the most intense scene of the night. Jack, infuriated about the situation, calls out Michael’s bullshit in front of the group. He screams at him over and over to tell them what’s really going on. Michael, panicked and distraught, reveals the details of the deal with the Others. When he confessed to the murders, I really thought Hurley was going to go apeshit on him like when he attacked Sawyer. Hurley asked point blank, So, you killed them?” Jorge Garcia’s delivery was money. He was insanely calm and didn’t go nuts when Michael confirmed that he murdered Libby and then tried to justify his apology with they took my son!” It was great. All the respect that we’ve lost for Michael over the past two weeks, all the jaw-dropping, all the sympathy we felt for Hurley was put on display in the faces of Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, and Jack. I thought that scene was well done. The group resolves to keep moving and not give the Others any indication that they don’t trust Michael.

Later, they come across a plastic chute in a clearing where dozens, nay, hundreds of plastic tubes have been sent from the Pearl Station to a pile in the middle of nowhere. Sawyer finds Locke’s map that he sent two episodes ago. While everyone is wondering what to make of it, Sayid’s smoke signal rises over the tree line from the Others’ camp. Too late. After briefly hearing the weird whispering voices that we have not heard in awhile, they attack with dart guns to take down the rescue party.

Back in the hatch, Locke and Desmond continue to wait for the countdown to hit zeroes. Desmond asks Locke about the Pearl Station and Locke tells him about the monitoring stations, the experiment, the notebooks and tube, and the printouts of all the numbers. He tells him that the two-man team in the Pearl was monitoring the button experiment” going on in the Swan. After reviewing the numbers from one of the printouts Desmond starts to put it together — the day that Desmond didn’t push the button in time was September 22, 2004. The printout from that day read 922044:16” and then SYSTEM FAILURE was repeated over and over again. Desmond: I think I crashed your plane.” Well, shit. Thankfully that was figured out at the last possible second! After Desmond realizes that the Pearl Station was the actual experiment, and the button in the Swan did need to be pushed Locke smashes the computer to ensure the code is not entered.

It’s pretty much all downhill from here. The rescue party, bound and gagged, is taken to a dock where Henry Gale reappears and completes the exchange with Michael. Michael is given a motor boat, the same one seen in last year’s finale, and the coordinates to a rescue point with Walt. Henry issues Michael a warning, telling him that A) he’ll never be able to find the island once he leaves, and B) if he tells anyone about what has happened, people will come for Walt again. Michael asks if his friends are going to be hurt (that’s a bold move, still throwing around the friends” term). Henry tells him that they are going to be joining the Others’ camp. Who knows what that means. With that, Michael is reunited with Walt and they leave the rest of the people on the dock.

Once the countdown hits zero, the hieroglyphics that mean DEATH pop up, and the hatch goes haywire. The electromagnetic energy is triggered and everything metal starts flying around like Pearl Harbor. The earth starts shaking. Charlie and Eko narrowly avoid silverware in the chest on a few occasions. Luckily, Desmond left the key for the override system in the hatch bookshelf. He grabs it and climbs underneath the hatch, inserts the key, and…then…something happens. I’m not really sure. There’s a bright white light that is visible everywhere on the island. A piece of the hatch comes crashing down on the beach. We don’t see the end result in the hatch, we only know that Charlie walks back to the beach alive and is surprised to hear that Locke and Eko are not back yet. Then again, he’s having trouble hearing anything since his ears are still ringing, presumably from the earlier dynamite blast.

After Michael leaves, Hurley is set free and told that he must deliver a message to the Camp on the beach: stay away. He hesitates, but Jack gives him a head nod to go. Jack, Kate, and Sawyer all have the bags put back over their heads and are led away.

The very end of the episode tripped me out. Two dudes in a remote arctic station playing chess when suddenly a computer alarm pops up reporting an Electromagnetic Anomaly Detected.” They call Widmore — Penelope Widmore, to report it. She still has a picture of her and Desmond next to her telephone. See the Analysis post for more thoughts on this.

Notes/Thoughts

The Michael-Walt story was sort of resolved. Father and son were reunited, but is that really it for them? They motor boat off into the sunset to be rescued? Henry Gale told Michael that once he leaves he’ll never be able to find his way back. Further, he won’t tell anyone what has happened because people will find out and they will come for Walt again. Is it possible that Michael and Walt will actually make it back to the States only to reconsider and come back to the island? Or will they reconsider before being rescued. Keeping in mind that redemption is a huge theme of Lost, it seems that the only way for Michael to redeem himself is to correct the mistakes he has made and save Jack, Kate, and Sawyer who are all in peril. If he did that, would he be able to win back the Camp’s trust?

Zeke” has a real name. It’s Tom. And Ms. Klugh was referred to as Bea (I assume it’s spelled like Bea Arthur). Just to quickly review: the Others use make-up, fake beards, probably wigs, have aliases, protect fake hatches, and abandon camps and other hatches somewhat regularly. They most likely work for the Dharma Initiative. I don’t think they comprise the entire project.

Tom and Bea clearly defer to Henry Gale. HG may be the leader of the Others on the island and he may be high up in Dharma Initiative, but I’m still not convinced he runs the show.

Desmond sailed for 2 1/2 weeks due West and figured he’d end up in Fiji. Instead he ended up right where he started. Was his navigation equipment messed up because of the electromagnetic properties of the island? Did the island pull him back? Drunk driving? With all the focus on the power of electromagnetism, you have to believe that it messes with navigation instruments and keeps people not only from finding the place, but escaping as well. Is this place the Bermuda Triangle of the Pacific? Didn’t Amelia Earhart disappear in the Pacific on her last flight in the 1930s?

Sayid, Sun, and Jin are still on Desmond’s sailboat after Sayid discovered the abandoned camp that Michael was held at. Just like last year’s finale, people are still out at sea with their status uncertain. Maybe Michael and Walt will motor right past them at the beginning of next season. If that happens, Sayid will know what went down and will be in a bad mood. Michael better hope they don’t cross paths.

HG gave Michael the coordinates of 3-2-5. I’m not really sure how you write that — 3’ 25’? He also told Michael, We’re the good guys.” Something tells me that, down the road, we may find out he is telling the truth.

If the Lostaways are in control of a sailboat, will some of them make an effort to escape? We know Bernard and Rose are not in a hurry to leave. Neither is Locke. Then again, is Locke even alive? I can’t imagine they’d kill off Locke and Eko — they’re too awesome — but I’m sort of assuming that Desmond is dead. Your thoughts?

Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are, in my mind, the three brightest stars of the show and they’re very much at the mercy of the Others at this point. I don’t even want to begin to speculate about how they’ll get out of this one. But as long as Jack is away from the Camp, anyone needing a doctor is screwed. So if Locke and Eko are in bad shape after the hatch incident, they’re not going to get any better anytime soon.

Charlie and Claire’s relationship took an expected turn at the very end of the episode. They seem to be the next pair giving romance a shot on the island. A shot” — get it? (Uncontrollable laughter) The track record says one them is gonna eat it if that’s the case. My money will be on Charlie next season.

Speaking of Charlie, he was acting a little strange after he came back to the beach from the hatch. He complained that his ears were ringing. From the dynamite, right?

Well, the showdown that I wanted to see so badly wasn’t so much of a showdown” as it was a beatdown”. I should have known better with the Others. This isn’t the Civil War where everyone lines up and takes a shot. This is like Vietnam with the Cong hiding in the jungle. They are some wily bastards.

Right before the rescue party headed out into the jungle, Sawyer said, Let’s roll”. Immediately I thought of the Flight 93 guys. Intentional?

Libby said her husband, David, got sick and died. Sick with what, I wonder?

Why did Radzinsky make edits to the Orientation film in the Swan? And how did a piece of the film end up in a hollowed-out Bible on the other side of the island? Where are the other pieces?

When Kelvin was drunk and playing with the key, he gave it to Desmond and told him to make sure you put it back behind Turn of the Screw’” a novel that has been referenced more than once on this show. I understand Lost shares some of the same themes from the book, but my knowledge is limited overall. I pulled this quote about it that kind of applies to Lost: One of the most challenging features of The Turn of the Screw is how frequently characters make indirect hints or use vague language rather than communicate directly and clearly.” Sound familiar?

Kelvin joined” Dharma Initiative. I’m curious to know where you apply for a job. Most people, it seems, have to be lured or kidnapped into it.

The population of the island was whittled down a little bit again. Sawyer killed one of the others. Not the one he wanted to kill, but good stuff nonetheless.

Locke told Desmond that Eko and Charlie were not his friends. He also told Desmond I was wrong” while the hatch was going completely crazy. It wasn’t really John Locke’s day.

Desmond told Locke his trademark, See you in another life brother” as he prepared to enter the key to shut everything down or, perhaps, blow everything up. Who knows? But unfortunately, I think he’s dead. Which would suck because I really grew to like his character in a single episode.

What was the language the two guys in the arctic station speaking? Russian? Are they in Siberia, or near the North Pole? Widmore is a very rich dude who may or may not be involved with Hanso Foundation and Dharma Initiative. My money says he is. And Penelope’s money may very well be trying to find Desmond. Or maybe she’s just trying to find the island?

Outrageous Claims

Well, ever since I started doing these posts for Chris back in March, I’ve speculated and theorized as personal exercises to think critically about the show, and also to get others to do the same if they were lucky enough to read the reviews. I managed to hit on some of the stuff that happened — magnetism was the cause of the plane crash, Sawyer killed somebody in the finale, Locke gave up on the countdown — but I was way off on just about everything else, which actually still makes it fun for me to do this section of the blog. I made cases for four or five cast members dying and was only right on Ana-Lucia. I was wrong about there being another crash and introducing new characters. And I was wrong about the Michael-Walt resolution — though I think that is still up in the air. Walt could still be working for the Others! Just wait and see!

Which makes for a nice segue into speculation for next season. Take it with a grain of salt:

We’ll get a look of what exactly happened in the hatch as Desmond turned the key. We’ll see Eko, Locke, and Desmond be killed and brought back to life by the power of the electromagnetic energy. Many fans will wonder if the producers expect us to believe this.

Sayid and Rousseau will lead a daring mission to find Jack, Kate, and Sawyer and break them out. Rousseau will see her daughter Alex and some crazy shit will go down. Alex will provide information to Danielle and the other Lostaways, but she won’t be able to escape the Others.

The father of Sun’s baby will be revealed. If, IF it’s Michael, Sun may become the next target of the Others since there was so much interest in Walt and whether Michael was Walt’s biological father.

Jin will continue to improve his English. By Season 4, there will be no more subtitles.

The phone call to Penelope at the end of the Season 2 finale implies that she has been actively searching for the island for one reason or another. Her quote: With enough money and determination, you can find anyone,” says a lot. Is she looking specifically for Desmond? If she is or isn’t, I think there may be some off-island activity that is explored next season with the Widmore family.

When Locke was trapped under the blast doors in the Lockdown” episode, Henry Gale must have punched the numbers in. He told Locke he didn’t just to mess with his head. Obviously, shit hits the fan when the numbers aren’t entered, so that begs the question, what was HG’s motive? To test Locke? To get him to not push the button? HG was looking directly into the bright light when Desmond turned the key — was he thinking that he fooled Locke into creating a disaster?

If Desmond accidentally” brought the plane down, then maybe it’s not an international conspiracy to have all the Lostaways there on the island. Maybe coincidence outweighs fate. Who knows — I’m really tired of writing though, so hopefully there are a lot of good comments to shore up my really long review. There’s plenty to discuss. Have at it.

There’s nothing official about my grading system, so I give it 7 out of 8 stars. I think one quick shot of the hatch aftermath would have pushed it over the top to a perfect score for me. As of now, the first episode next season isn’t slated to air until October 6th. See you then.

Wes